July Open House
Posted July 05, 2010
Join us Saturday, July 17th from 9am-12pm for our monthly Open House! We have great annuals, perennials, herbs, shrubs & planted containers for sale at clearance prices! Or, just stop by for refreshments, and see all the flowers blooming in our front garden beds. It is hard to believe that just last Fall, the beds were dead, brown grass patches!
Plant of the Month
Posted July 05, 2010
Achillea (Yarrow) is often thought of as a smelly weed that grows wild all throughout Idaho. And it is. But Yarrow has also become a very popular garden plant, thanks in part to the development of new flower colors, and yarrow’s ability to thrive beautifully in our hot, dry climate. Achillea prefers full sun and well drained soil, but adapts easily to poor soil and harsh locations. Aside from being a beautiful and carefree plant, it is also valued for its medicinal purposes and makes excellent cut and dried flowers. When Achillea finally stops blooming, the frilly, fern-like foliage keeps looking gorgeous for the rest of the season! How could we not make this the plant of the month!?
June To-Do’s For Your Garden
Posted June 23, 2010
Watering:
Watering sounds like such an easy thing to do! But in reality, it is the cause of many common gardening issues. It is a balancing act between too much and too little. Improper watering creates weak plants, causes disease, and can result in instant plant death. We recommend watering deeply and less often to promote deep root systems. The water soaks deep into the soil, and the roots stretch down to retrieve it. This also reduces the amount of water on the foliage, which causes diseases like powdery mildew. It is important to set up a consistent watering schedule. Try setting your sprinklers to water an area for three fifteen-minute intervals in one morning, with a break in between each watering. This will allow the water time to soak in to the soil, rather than run off and be wasted. (I simply program my sprinkler system to cycle 3 times.) Start this schedule three times a week, and reduce to twice a week as your plants develop deep, healthy root systems. It is important to watch your plants and lawn, and water according to their needs.
Cutting back:
Some perennials like nepeta and salvia will re-bloom if you cut them down to the ground immediately after flowering. Other perennials won’t re-bloom, but can really benefit from being cut down after flowering. They will produce a nice, lush mound of foliage rather than remaining awkwardly cut stems for the rest of the season.
Deadheading:
Deadheading is removing spent flowers from a plant. After blooming, a plant switches its energy to producing seed in that flower. If you remove the flower, the plant will continuously create more flowers in an attempt to reproduce. Annuals and roses especially will bloom all summer long if you deadhead them regularly.
Pinching:
Have you ever had plants that become very long and leggy? One way to avoid this is by “pinching”. Pinching is removing the growing tip to cause a plant to “bush out”. The growing tip (bud) controls the growth of the entire stem, and selfishly directs most of the plant’s energy to itself! This results in one long stem with a flower at the tip. When you remove the tip, it causes buds all along the sides of the stem to begin growing. This results in a shorter stem with multiple branches and flowers. Almost all annuals need pinching, as well as many perennials that become tall and floppy.
